I've been looking forward to listening to the M-100 for a while now and finally got the opportunity to order my very own pair. After all of the hype I was a little disappointed. To make matters worse I finally ordered the ATH M50RD as well. A day or two later they arrive and apron first listen I was blown away and stared angrily at the M-100. Needless to say, I'm all for collecting and such, but the M-100 are being sent back. I have given the many more listens and still would not listen to them much over all based on the other cans that I own.

Perhaps it was one of the defective pairs that people were mentioning a couple of pages ago? What exactly did you find wrong with the M-100?

Err... I kind of noticed that the M100's have a more offensive lower treble than my A900X or Q701's. I find this hard to listen to with dubstep or EDM with heavy vocals, will the treble calm down after a while of burn in?

I'm not sure what you mean by this. Vocals aren't in the treble range. They're midrange, from about 100 Hz to about 850 Hz. Treble is about 1300 Hz on up. Mids are where M-100 is "weakest" in terms of frequency response curves. Bass is most prominent, up 8-9 dB or so. Treble is prominent but less so than the bass, and it has a peak at 10 kHz which is a lot of why it sounds so detailed but that's certainly not "lower treble".

I'm jumping on the train with everyone else in saying that the M-100 bests the ATH M50 by a wide margin. After living with an enjoying the M50 as my "daily driver" for over a year, I ended up finding their sound somewhat congested and perhaps flat at times. I agree that the M-100 is a much clearer sounding headphone with more detail and a respectable amount of air behind the treble for a closed can. The M-100 also packs a bit more of a punch.

Who was that attractive young woman wearing a pair of white M-100s today on the Metro North train headed for North White Plains? She was dark-skinned and had a mole on her right cheek. As we neared the White Plains station, I passed her on the way to the exit, pointed to her headphones and smiled.

She smiled back and asked, "You like V-Modas?"

"I do," I told her.

Then she pointed to the heart on her lavender-pink shield: "That's me. I love them."

Err... I kind of noticed that the M100's have a more offensive lower treble than my A900X or Q701's. I find this hard to listen to with dubstep or EDM with heavy vocals, will the treble calm down after a while of burn in?

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjanuary

I've been looking forward to listening to the M-100 for a while now and finally got the opportunity to order my very own pair. After all of the hype I was a little disappointed. To make matters worse I finally ordered the ATH M50RD as well. A day or two later they arrive and apron first listen I was blown away and stared angrily at the M-100. Needless to say, I'm all for collecting and such, but the M-100 are being sent back. I have given the many more listens and still would not listen to them much over all based on the other cans that I own.

These guys both sound like they got a defective pair. EXACTLY the same deal. Lower treble, probably around 3-4khz is where the defective ones had a scratchy irritating peak. The other symptom was low fidelity, scooped lower midrange and zero soundstage and zero punch. They had to be cranked to ear splitting territory to get significant lows. It's like the glitch makes them the opposite of what they do normally.

And the M100s are leagues and leagues above the M50. I used the M50 for five years and was thrilled to get my properly working M100s. Massive upgrade in sound in every aspect.

I know I have only been popping in here to talk about the defect that happened, but I'm just trying to kind of guide others into getting a replacement.

I've been enjoying my M100s with XL pads all day every day. I'm not in the market for any more headphones. The sound signature is EXACTLY my preference and it's amazing how well they present all of the genres I listen to. They have certainly exceeded my expectations. Plugged into my HRT microstreamer these are bliss. Plugged into my phone they are still amazing.

I've been enjoying my M100s with XL pads all day every day. I'm not in the market for any more headphones. The sound signature is EXACTLY my preference and it's amazing how well they present all of the genres I listen to. They have certainly exceeded my expectations. Plugged into my HRT microstreamer these are bliss. Plugged into my phone they are still amazing.

Just learned about thing thing. Pairs up well with the M100's does it? I read it can go into an iPhone 5s...

These guys both sound like they got a defective pair. EXACTLY the same deal. Lower treble, probably around 3-4khz is where the defective ones had a scratchy irritating peak.

I'll buy that. We humans are most sensitive to sounds around 4 kHz so a problem there will be most noticeable, most annoying and most fatiguing. So, yeah, if you guys are still reading then contact V-MODA and see about exchanges.

Just learned about thing thing. Pairs up well with the M100's does it? I read it can go into an iPhone 5s...

It does pair well. The smooth detailed sound of the M100s fed with a DAC that clean and an amp with that much muscle behind it is quite an experience.

The microstreamer is powered from your device's battery, it does drain it noticeably. When it comes to portable use I would have to say something with an internal battery might be better solely because of that even though I've read the microstreamer has a slight edge in fidelity over some of the internal battery wielding DACs in that price range. When I ran it off of my phone I got about 4 hours of play time, which isn't so bad if you can charge after your 4 hour listening session. The phone playing back music without running the microstreamer plays so long I don't have a number. I don't use it mobile any more though because the latest android update seems to have killed external DAC support on my S3. :( I miss that feature dearly.

I'll buy that. We humans are most sensitive to sounds around 4 kHz so a problem there will be most noticeable, most annoying and most fatiguing. So, yeah, if you guys are still reading then contact V-MODA and see about exchanges.

I apologize if I set anyone off and made it seem like the M100's are a bad headphone. They are NOT. I love these headphones so much that I don't want to let them go from my grasp.

I don't know if I have defective headphones, but I'll be contacting Vmoda and see if I can get a replacement based on what I'm hearing from you guys.

Because this is how it goes.

My Sony Walkman has a volume that goes up to 30 levels (I don't know the decibel measurements, but that's the amount)

It's fine if I leave it at 13/30, it actually sounds like my A900X with more bass extension of +8 decibel over flat just like the graph shows, and with lower treble peak instead of higher treble peak. At higher levels like 18/30, this makes maracas and sibilance more apparent than my other headphones. At this level, it's at the point where I fear my japanese vocalists that make the infamous "sssssibilant" lyric.

At first I thought it was due to the Sony walkman not being able to control the highs, but I get the same symptoms when I plug them through an O2/ODAC

So I don't really know what's going on, if it's just my ears or if it's the headphone. But the M100's sound fairly balanced rather than bass oriented.

At higher levels like 18/30, this makes maracas and sibilance more apparent than my other headphones. At this level, it's at the point where I fear my japanese vocalists that make the infamous "sssssibilant" lyric.

Yeah, that's not right. You should be suffering from hearing loss well before M-100 starts distorting from excess power.